Finding Your Way
by KnightlyWordsmith
Summary: High school is never easy, especially when you're persecuted for being a mutant. With Kitty's powers acting up, Kurt unable to see his girlfriend, and Rogue continuing to struggle with her inability to touch others, things have never seemed so bad. When a new threat rises, endangering mutants everywhere, will it be too much for the X-Men?
1. A Warm Welcome

**A/N-** Lame title is lame, and subject to change. It literally means nothing right now, and is only there to be a title. I am ashamed of myself.

So, I'm kind of new to the X-Men Evolution fandom, and this is the first fic I've written for it. As I'm not too familiar with X-Men comic canon, I will be steering clear from it, so not as to shamefully bash it.

* * *

"I can't believe this!"

The voice of Katherine Pryde, known to her friends as 'Kitty', rang out through the crowded school hallway.

It was the first day of school, and she stood before the school bulletin, glaring daggers of death. Had the paper before her been alive, she was certain it no longer would have been. Instead it would have been torn into tiny shreds by said daggers.

"Calm down Kitty, you don't want to make a scene," Kurt Wagner, in his human guise, spoke at her shoulder.

"Maybe I do want to make a scene!" Kitty shot back, her voice as hard and angry as her eyes. "It's not fair for them to not let me try out for track this year just because I have powers!

"Like what do they expect me to do? Phase through the hurdles?" Kitty's voice was rising louder and louder. "I think someone would notice that and disqualify me!"

"Miss Pryde!" A sharp voice cut her tirade short. Kitty turned to see a stern faced Principle Kelly scowling at her. "If you have a problem with school policy, bring it up with me or the board. Do not disrupt other students as they try to go about their day."

_As you mutants always do_. He didn't say it out loud but the words hung in the air.

"I do have-" Kitty began, her face flushed, but she felt Kurt's hand on her shoulder dragging her back.

"Leave it Kitty, it's not worth it," Kurt said, his eyes pleading.

"But it is worth it," Kitty hissed in return, but she allowed herself to be pulled away from the board by Kurt and drawn into the stream of hallway traffic. She could still feel Principle Kelly's eyes on her as they retreated down the hall.

"This isn't over," she muttered under breath.

Kurt's keen ears picked up on her mutterings easily. "Of course it isn't Kitty, but maybe you should wait until later. You're too riled up to make a good case for yourself at the moment."

"You're right Kurt," Kitty sighed, her shoulders slumping. "It's just, I was hoping after we saved everyone from Apocalypse things would be better. That people would start accepting us."

"I wished the same, Kitty," Kurt replied. "But I fear things are only going get worse before they start getting better."

* * *

"Back off," Rogue snarled to the bright eyed freshman who'd wandered too close.

"Whoa," the boy breathed in awe. It wasn't just the 'Whoa you're a senior awe' either. No, it was the 'Whoa you're a mutant awe'. "You're one of them. You're a _mutant_!"

Rogue rolled her eyes sourly. It was always the 'Whoa you're a mutant awe', tinged as usual with a bit of fear. She could see it in his eyes, opened just a little too wide.

"What's it to you?" Rogue glared, and shouldered past him, hoping to put as much distance between him and herself as possible.

"So which are you?" Today was clearly not her day. The freshman doggedly followed her, slipping in and out of other groups of school goers in an effort to keep up with her rapid pace. "Are you part of the X-Men? Or the Brotherhood? Or maybe even that other group? The Acolytes?"

"Ah'm gonna be late fot first period," she said pointedly. Turning forward again, she marched on determinedly, tuning out any of his prattle as he continued to follow after her.

She was finally saved by the ringing of the late bell, instructing student that they had to be in class and in their seats in sixty seconds.

She slid into her senior English class to the familiar mixture of reactions. Most of her classmates ignored her, some rather pointedly, while others regarded her with outright hostility.

For a moment she wished Risty's smiling, never judging, always accepting face was there to greet her.

She quickly buried that thought deep down. Deep, _deep_ down. So deep that you could use a backhoe to try and dig it up and still not find it.

She'd never admit to anyone how much that betrayal still hurt her.

Hunching her shoulders up to her ears against the glares of her classmates, Rogue entered the classroom. She slumped into a seat near the back of the class, next to the window. A perfect place to blend in. Resting her chin in her hand, Rogue prepared herself to pass the class as quietly and as invisibly as one could when everyone hated you.

Of course, the world really was not allowing things to go her way today.

_Boing. Boing._ The distinctive sounds of what could only be the approach of one particular individual.

One of the few people who could garner more glares than herself literally sprang into the room. Todd Tolensky.

"Not mah day," Rogue grumbled to herself, rubbing a hand across her face.

What was Toad even doing here? Last she had heard the Brotherhood was suspended from school. Then again, that was last year, so maybe the suspension had since been revoked. Either way, here he was, and of course he was in her class. And coming to sit right behind her…

"'Sup Rogue?" Toad asked, leaning back in his chair and propping his legs up on the desk in front of him.

Rogue shuddered inwardly. He looked (and smelled) like he hadn't showered in a year. His disheveled hair was dark with grease, his wide, toad-like fingers were caked in grime, and the smell coming off his feet could probably be harnessed as a biological weapon. His eyes wandered off to the side, spotting a fly that was perched a top the window, just out of his reach.

"Get lost, creep," Rogue said, turning to lock her eyes on the blackboard at the front of the room. At least he was behind her where she could avoid looking at him, even if she could still smell him.

"Aw, c'mon Rogue, we mutants gots to stick together, what with everyone else hatin' on our guts," Toad continued lazily, his eyes still trailing to the fly on the window.

"Ah, don't _gots _ to do anything," Rogue replied tartly, eyes still forward.

"Even after we saved your X-Geeks butts against Apocalypse?"

Rogue snorted. "Ah, wouldn't call showing up late and barely doing anything ,saving us. Besides, from what I've heard you haven't continued on your path of new found righteousness."

"Now Rogue, we might still steal a little here, vandalize a building there, but you see, we gots to make a livin'."

Thankfully the English teacher arrived at just that moment, and Rogue didn't need to respond.

Sighing, Rogue settled her chin on her hand once more. She supposed she should pull out her notebook, in case she had to take notes. It was the first day though, she reasoned with herself, and positioned her elbow more comfortably on the desk. If things went well, judging by the droning voice of the English teacher, she thought she might just be able to catch a few Z's this period.

_ Boing. Splat. _Behind her Toad landed back on his chair, tongue slurping into his mouth. He smacked his lips loudly on his revolting fly snack.

Then again, today really wasn't her day.

* * *

Kurt made his way into the cafeteria, doing his best to skirt around a group of jocks who were loitering near the doorway. The largest of the group quipped something to his friends as he passed, and Kurt entered the cafeteria in the wake of their laughter.

He didn't precisely know that the joke was about him, but he'd bet his furry hide that is was. Kurt hurriedly grabbed his food and looked for a place to sit.

"Kurt!"

Kurt's ears and mood perked up instantly. His mouth stretched into a grin that would have shown fangs if it weren't for his image inducer.

Amanda was sitting on her own at one of the cafeteria tables, excitedly waving him over.

"How's your day been?" Amanda asked as Kurt placed his lunch tray down beside her, and slid into his seat.

"Good, except the new PE teacher seems to think she's a drill sergeant. She had us run laps all class and kept referring to us as 'maggots'," Kurt replied, poking cautiously at the mystery meat they had been served that day. He wasn't so sure he had made the right choice in meals "Luckily she has nothing on Mr. Logan, otherwise there'd probably be a blue, fuzzy heap lying on the track outside right now."

"I'll keep that in mind," Amanda giggled, causing Kurt's thoughts to wander back to the jocks by the door. Amanda laughing at him was okay, in fact it was something he strived to achieve. "I have PE last period."

"It's really too bad we don't have any classes together this semester," Kurt said wistfully. "Especially since we can hardly see each other outside of school anymore. By any chance, have your parents warmed up to the idea of me being a mutant yet?" Kurt asked, hope creeping into his voice and face.

Amanda's scowl was enough for him to know the answer. "I've told you, it's not that you're a mutant it's that-"

"With me being a mutant brings along the evil mutants," Kurt finished for her, his brows furrowing slightly as he continued to regard the meal before him.

"They'll warm up to things eventually," Amanda replied with confidence, resting her hand on Kurt's arm.

Kurt felt a slight longing for his blue fur which would have hidden the blush that was forming on his cheeks. "I know Amanda, it's just that I miss you," he said, smiling down at her sincerely, feeling his blush deepen when she smiled in return. "It seems that lunch is the only time we'll get to see each other."

"Well, then we better make the best of it, rather than worry about things we can't fix at the moment, shouldn't we you big, blue fuzzball?"Amanda said, letting her hand slide down his arm, to rest on his hand.

"You're right," Kurt nodded. "As usual."

Amanda held his gaze for a moment longer, then dropped her eyes to look at the food Kurt was prodding with his fork. "You're not actually going to eat that garbage are you? It'll probably make you sick."

"Once again, I think you're right," Kurt said, pushing the offensive plate of food away from him, causing Amanda to giggle once more.

It was nice to have some time alone with Amanda, but it wasn't to last. Not sixty seconds later Kitty was making her way through the cafeteria to them, with Rogue trailing in her wake.

Kurt was hoping that a morning of classes would have calmed Kitty down, but if anything she looked even more worked up than earlier. She slammed her tray down onto the table across from him, and went to slam herself into the chair as well. She really must have been fuming inside for rather than land in the chair, her eyes popped open wide as she slipped right through it. She landed on the floor with a resounding _thud_.

Amid the snickers of other students in the cafeteria, Kitty stood back up, and properly took her seat. Her eyes dared anyone to call her out for her momentary loss of control of her powers.

"I went to talk to Principle Kelly on my off period," Kitty replied after Kurt was brave enough to inquire about her sour mood. "He wouldn't even listen to me. Told me it was unfair for 'normal' people to have to compete against us, but apparently it's fair to just say that we're not allowed to join at all."

"It's not like we didn't know this was gonna happen," Rogue reasoned with her. "Look how they treated Jean when they took away all her awards."

"But I even explained to him how my power wouldn't affect how fast I ran or anything. I can just walk through things," Kitty went on, throwing her arms up in frustration. "Then he went on about how I might have _secret_ powers that I'm not telling anyone about, like super speed." Continuing to rumble in frustration, Kitty let her chin collapse on her arms, glaring at the world.

"Speaking of super speed," Rogue said, finding a way to steer the conversation away from Kitty's ravings. "There was an amphibian in my English class this morning."

"Amphibian?" Kurt felt something unpleasant settle in his stomach. Now he was really glad Amanda had talked him out of trying the mystery meat. "You don't mean Toad, do you?"

"The one and only," Rogue replied, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "I thought we'd seen the last of the Brotherhood in school, but I guess not."

"I hope they don't start causing more trouble," Amanda weighed in.

"Can we not talk about the Brotherhood?" Kitty raised herself up so that her elbows were propped up on the table, and her chin was cupped between her hands.

"You and Lance still not talking?" Kurt guessed.

"I repeat, can we not talk about the Brotherhood?" Kitty said, cocking her head angrily, causing her ponytail to flop back and forth.

"Whatever you say Kitty," Kurt said, palms up and out in defense. He wasn't overly interested in finding himself waist deep in cafeteria flooring.

The subject was effectively dropped, and though everyone settled into easy conversation, Kurt noticed as Kitty started to eat she stabbed her salad with her fork more violently than was necessary.

When the bell rang, Kurt carried his still full tray, along with Amanda's, over to the cleanup station.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Amanda said a little sadly as they made their way out the door. Just before turning to go their separate ways down the hall she pecked him on the cheek, ruffling his fur slightly.

"Careful there Amanda, what he has might be contagious." It was the same jock who had cracked a joke when Kurt had entered the cafeteria earlier. He and his group of friends were still crowded near the doorway, leering at them as they walked by.

Amanda's eyes narrowed at the slight to her boyfriend, but it was Rogue who came to his defense.

"Our powers are genetic, you moron," Rogue said, walking up with her purple framed eyes narrowed. "Just like your lack of brain cells."

"What are you saying to me, freak?" The broad shoulder jock stepped forward, shadowed by his equally big friends.

"Your lack of understanding just proves mah point," Rogue didn't back down, not intimidated in the slightest. This guy thought he was tough but he was nothing more than a kitten when compared to Sabretooth, not to mention the other villains they had faced. "Come on Kurt, we've got algebra together." She said, walking forward.

"You know you don't belong here, don't you? You never will!"

The jock's words were echoed in the dark looks sent to them from all sides as they walked down the hallway to algebra. Kurt wished the staring would stop, but as he had told Kitty earlier, he suspected things weren't nearly as bad as they were going to get.

* * *

**A/N- **There we go folks, chapter one is done. I'm a super big fan of constructive criticism, so if you have any please leave a review. I'm new to writing these characters, so any feedback on how I'm doing so far would be much appreciated!


	2. Broken Communications

**A/N-**

I just wanted to give brief shout out to Soleana who left one of the nicest reviews I've ever received. Thanks so much for your kind words, I just wish you'd left a signed review so I could thank you more directly!

* * *

Kitty let her shoulders sag slightly as she put her hand on the door to the chemistry classroom. It was her last class of the day, and boy was she ready for school to be over.

It was the first day of her second to last year of high school. Things were supposed to be comfortable and familiar at this point. No longer an awkward freshman, but without the fears for the future that the seniors had. Everything was supposed to be just right.

Instead, everything had been just awful. She'd hoped that things would have been better than last year after their powers had abruptly been revealed mid-year, but she'd been wrong. If anything, the time since then had done more to sour the attitudes of the human students to mutants, rather than improve them.

She'd started the day by finding out she wasn't allowed to try out for the track team. She'd then spent the morning under the hard stares of people she'd once considered friends. A botched attempt to talk things over with Principle Kelly about allowing her to try out for the track team had only succeeded in working her up further. To top it all off she'd lost control of her powers and phased right through a chair she had meant to sit in.

If the Professor found out about her slip he'd be more than a little disappointed in her lack of self control. Luckily she didn't have a destructive power, or her sore temper could have caused a lot more damage.

Speaking of mutants who's bad moods caused destruction, Kitty felt her mood darken even more when she pushed open the door of the chemistry classroom.

Lance Alvers sat in the back corner, leaning back on his chair so that only two of the chair legs were on the ground. His eyes were half closed with his hands resting behind his head. He looked the image of relaxation and indifference, and she hated seeing him there.

Another thing that she had hoped for after they took down Apocalypse was that Lance would rejoin the X-Men.

It had been the perfect opportunity. Lance, along with the rest of the Brotherhood had come to their aid when they needed it most. They were doing good. They were being heroes for real this time. Not even Scott would be able to come up with a good reason for denying Lance acceptance into the Institute.

Maybe she had pushed too hard trying to get him join. Maybe Lance never was going to come over to their side. Whatever the reason, in the end what had seemed to be the perfect point for them to re-start whatever it was that was between them, ended with everything falling to pieces.

She'd gone back to the Institute, and he returned to the Brotherhood falling back on his old ways ,and that had been that. She hadn't seen Lance, let alone spoken to him in months, and she had been perfectly okay with that.

But now he was here, intruding on her already rotten day.

And she was staring at him.

Catching herself in the act, Kitty shook her head and turned away. She was thankful that his eyes were downcast and he hadn't appeared to notice her. Straightening her shoulders, she walked confidently into the classroom, defiantly ignoring that particular corner of the room. He wasn't worth her time or her notice.

She took a seat in the front row, where she'd be sure not to see the slightest hint of him.

At the front of the class, Mr. Rodden began writing down notes about thermodynamics. With a groan, Kitty pulled out her notebook to start copying down the words on the board. Not that she should be surprised, Mr. Rodden was notorious for being one of the most difficult teachers in school, so of course he wouldn't adhere to the 'no work on the first day' rule.

She smiled to herself at the thought that she still had the coolest chemistry teacher around available to her. Everyone had loved Mr. McCoy's classes during his brief stint at Bayville High, and she at least had benefited when he left his job here.

Thoughts of Beast teaching chemistry brought back memories of stink bombs, which led to places she didn't want to be thinking about. Namely the corner at the back of the room.

_Not worth your time, Kitty_, she insisted to herself again. _So not worth your time._

Kurt had been right earlier, things _were_ only going to get worse.

* * *

Rogue made her way into the institute, walking through the great double doors that opened up to the large, sweeping foyer. She couldn't have been happier to be home.

Logan, who was just walking down the wide staircase as she came in, nodded at her in greeting.

"Tough day, kid?" He asked in his usual gruff manner as they passed each other.

"How'd ya know?" She drawled in response.

"Definitely wasn't the sunshine and rainbows spouting out of your ears," he rumbled, causing Rogue to crack a smile.

Logan paused a moment at the door, his hand set to push it open. "If you get a moment, you might want to head up to the kitchen and talk to Ray. Seems like he had a rough time adjusting to high school."

Rogue started. "You want _me_ to talk to him?" She asked, her Southern accent leeching out heavier than usual in her surprise. She wasn't exactly known for being good at having heart to heart conversations with people.

"Better you than me, Stripes."

Rogue rolled her eyes, but she had to agree with his assessment. Logan may be the only one less well equipped to deal with other people's problem than she was.

"Fine, I'll talk to him," she relented. "Where are you off to anyway?" She asked, noticing for the first time the motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

"It was all your first day back at school, and everyone I've seen so far looked like hell," he replied. "I'm planning on getting out of here before I get roped into cuddly conversations to cheer you up."

"So you're ducking out and leaving me to deal with them?" Rogue raised an eyebrow at him. Apparently the one thing that scared Logan was angsty adolescents.

Logan shrugged noncommittally. "Like I said, better you than me." Almost as an afterthought he added, "Besides, I think you'd be a good person for him to hear from in this case." With that he pushed open the door and was gone.

Rogue scowled at the place he had been standing, then turned and headed up the stairs. If Logan thought she should talk to Ray, then she might as well get it over with.

As Logan had said, Rogue found Ray in the kitchen. He was leaning against the counter with his hands resting on the marble countertop behind him and a brooding expression on his usually up beat face. His bright orange bangs which normally stood up stock straight, drooped over his left eye which was surrounded by a dark ring.

"Logan sent you to talk to me?" Ray asked, surprise and a little bit of disbelief lacing his words.

"He said you had a rough day," Rogue replied, feeling no more comfortable with this arrangement than Ray appeared to be.

"Can we just leave it at "I had a rough day"?" Ray asked hopefully. Rather than meet her eye, he turned his head to look out the window.

Outside it was beginning to rain, not a lot, but the heavy clouds rolling in hinted at an oncoming downpour. Rogue could see Logan on his motorcycle, just reaching the gate at the edge of the property. She was absurdly pleased to see the rain fall on him after he left her with this arduous chore.

"We could, but Logan will be back later and then you'll have to have this conversation with him," Rogue countered. "Why don't you just spit it out and be done with it?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Rogue pursed her lips and leaned against the opposite counter. She tried her best to appear as if she had no better place to be and wasn't intending on going anywhere soon, when in truth she could think of a dozen things she'd rather be doing.

"I got in a fight at school today," Ray sighed, his words coming out stilted and reluctantly.

"That much is obvious," Rogue nodded toward the shiner gracing his face. "Did you use your powers?" Rogue hadn't heard of any freak electrical discharges at school today, but the prospect of Ray using his powers in a fight against humans was undoubtedly a bad one.

"No," he replied forcefully, turning back toward her. "But I should have, or I wanted to, or I don't know." Rubbing a hand across his face, Ray let out a groan. "Let me explain."

Shifting his weight onto his hands resting on the counter behind him, Ray hoisted himself up a top the counter. He sat there with his feet swinging off the ground and started speaking.

"High school…" his voice trailed off as if searching for the right words. "High school's different than I expected."

_That's what everyone says,_ Rogue thought wryly to herself. _Supposedly the best time of your life, until you find out that its hell._

"It wasn't so bad, everyone knowing we were mutants last year," Ray continued, his eyes downcast. "We were the older ones in school. No one messed with us because we were the big guys. Following social hierarchy I guess. At Bayville High though? We're freshmen, fresh_meat_," Ray was beginning to sound almost frantic at this point, but at least his speech was no longer stilted. At least they were getting somewhere. "We're easy targets.

"It was during lunch. I was outside when I saw this group of guys corner Roberto and start calling him out for being a mutant. I got fed up listening to them so I stepped in."

"So, you got into a fight with them," Rogue let the words fall blandly. This was beginning to take longer than she had hoped.

"Yeah, and apparently I don't focus enough on my powerless training," Ray said, a tinge of dark humour in his voice as he pointed at his black eye. "I'd look a lot worse if it weren't for the fact that a teacher came out and broke us up."

"A fight with bullies? That's what's got you so down that Logan sent me of all people to talk with ya?" Rogue asked, starting to feel irritated by how must of a waste of time this endeavor had turned out to be. "Scott dealt with Duncan and half the football team on a daily basis last year."

"Well, I'm not Scott," Ray replied harshly. "I'm not the leader guy who sets an example for everyone else. I wanted to fry those guys!" His hands fisted tightly in his lap, and Rogue could see a muscle tighten in his neck. "I still do!"

Did he think Scott hadn't itched to take off his shades and give Duncan a dose of his own medicine a thousand times over?

"You think that would have helped," she snorted, entirely unimpressed with him. He might have been only a few years younger than her, but he was taking this like a complete child.

"Would have made me feel better that's for sure," Ray replied just as sourly. "Don't you ever wish you could just slip off a glove and knock someone out when they call you a freak?"

"No, no ah don't," she replied quickly, and angrily. That was an entire can of worms this boy did _not_ want to be opening. "Ah don't like using mah powers, 'cause they hurt _me_."

"I forgot, you're all high and mighty like Scott now aren't you?," Ray scoffed turning back to the window. "Are we done yet? Or is the part where you tell me I would have hurt myself emotionally if I used my powers against a poor defenseless human? I shouldn't even have fought them in the first place, right?"

That was exactly what she had been going to say. Coming from him she realized how ridiculously clichéd and fake it sounded. How much like _Scott_ it sounded. That thought stopped her short.

Taking a deep breath she tried to take this seriously rather than the small annoyance she had up till this point. There must have been a reason why Logan wanted her to be the one to talk to him, so maybe she needed a second to see things from Ray's perspective.

She was used to being an outcast even before she'd discovered her powers. At school, ever since mutants had been revealed to the world, she'd been dealing with the constant bullying. Ray had said he hadn't. This was new to him.

Maybe she should cut him some slack.

"No Ray, I'm not gonna say that," she replied, her voice no longer angry. _Be honest with him,_ she told herself. "Because ah probably would have done the exact same thing you did."

"You would have?" Once again a look of surprise crossed his face. _Not so much like Scott now, am I?_

"Look, ah get where you're comin' from, and you're right, there are times when I'd love to hurt everyone at school who tells me ah don't belong there," she replied . "And ah know how shitty you feel right now. _Scott_ would tell you exactly what you just said, but ah think you did the right thing."

"Really?"

"You stood up for a friend, but you held yourself back from actually hurting anyone," Rogue reasoned. "Sounds good to me."

Ray seemed to deflate at that. Without the anger, he just looked like a sad kid. A kid who shouldn't have to deal with such harsh persecution. "Does it ever get any easier? Dealing with it all?"

"No," Rogue replied, remembering the uncomfortable stares that always followed her in the hallways. "But we just have to deal with it anyway."

* * *

With a puff of sulfurous smoke Kurt appeared in front of the door to Kitty and Rogue's room. He was clad in his comfiest pair of pajamas, and had a phone clutched between the three fingers of his right hand. He reached his other hand up to knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Kitty's voice floated back to him.

"It's me," Kurt replied.

"Come in."

Rogue was sitting on her bed, her knees tucked up to her chin and a book resting on them. She had headphones in, blaring music loud enough that Kurt could just pick out the strings of The Blistering Boils latest hit. She lifted a hand to wave when he entered, but then returned to her book.

Across the room Kitty was sprawled out on her bed. Open in front of her were both a notebook and what looked like a chemistry textbook.

"Kitty, we've only had one day of class," Kurt grinned. "What could you possibly be studying for?"

"I have Mr. Rodden for chemistry," she groaned dramatically. "He's giving us a quiz tomorrow to see how much everyone remembers from last year."

Kurt winced. He'd had Mr. Rodden last year, an experience he'd gladly forget.

Kitty flipped both the textbook and notebook closed, before sitting up in her bed. "What's up?" She asked, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"I was hoping you'd do a favour for me," Kurt said, holding the phone out to her. "Would you call Amanda's house?"

Kitty looked at him quizzically. "You want me to call Amanda? She's your girlfriend."

"I know, but her parents don't want her talking to me," Kurt replied, hoping she would go along with his scheme. "So, I thought maybe you could call, just in case her parents pick up. Then you can hand the phone over to me."

He never should have doubted her. Kitty's eyes lit up and she grinned at him. "Sure Kurt, I'll be like Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliette," she said gleefully. She reached a hand out and took the phone from him. "What's her number?"

Kurt supplied it and waited anxiously as the phone rang. After a moment he heard the click of someone picking up on the other end of the line.

"Hi, could I talk to Amanda?" Kitty spoke into the phone. Kitty was silent for moment while someone on the other end said something. "It's Ki-Katherine," Kitty caught herself, sending a conspiratorial wink in Kurt's direction. Another pause as the other speaker said something, followed by Kitty replying, "Great. Thanks."

She took the phone from her ear, and held it back out to Kurt. "It was her mom. She's just going to get Amanda."

"Thanks Kitty, you're the best!"

"I know," Kitty grinned cheekily. "Now run off Romeo, you don't want us listening in on your lover's talk."

Laughing at Kitty, Kurt placed the phone against his ear and teleported back to his own room. Once there, through the phone he heard the tell-tale signs of someone handing off a phone someone else.

"Hello?" Amanda's uncertain voice met his ears.

"Hi, it's Kurt," he said, almost giddy that his plan had worked.

"Kurt? How'd you manage to convince my mom to let you talk to me?" Amanda asked, her voice raised in surprise. Nonetheless, she sounded happy with the results.

"It wasn't me," he replied. "We have our dear friend Katherine to thank for giving us this chance to talk to each other."

"Katherine? Oh you mean Kitty!" Kurt could hear the smile growing on her face. "Kurt, you're a genius!"

"I have my moments," Kurt replied. He was definitely feeling giddy now. Settling himself comfortably on his bed, he asked "So, how was PE?"

"You were so right Kurt, that woman's a monster," Amanda replied animatedly, falling easily into the conversation. "My calves are still sore from running!"

* * *

With firm hands, Spyke climbed down the rungs of the ladder which led into the bowels of the sewers. Leaping off the last rung, he landed with a small splash in a puddle of water which had accumulated due to the heavy rain. Choosing not to think about what he could be walking in, Spyke sloshed through the water in the direction of the Morlock's den.

After months of living in the sewers he knew them like the back of his armor-plated hand. The twists and turns which would have lost others like a labyrinth were more than just a home to him. They were security for those he had come to think of as family.

Unsurprisingly, Callisto was the first to hear his approach. She looked up, her one good eye furrowed not in suspicion as it once had been, but in faint concern. "You're back." It was as close to a warm welcome home as he'd ever hope to get, and that was just fine.

A tap on his arm had Spyke looking down to see Torpid at his side. Her oversized hands, which would have garnered many stares (and worse) above ground, were safely enclosed in her large rubber gloves. Her eyes were wide and worried, a question in the corner of her mouth.

"No sign of him yet, kid," Spyke tried to keep his voice light for the child's sake. Torpid nodded, accepting his answer, but the slight crease in her brows didn't disappear. He ruffled her hair in a brotherly fashion, which brought a small smile to her young face. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine."

Behind Torpid, Callisto was beckoning at him. "Catch ya later," he called to Torpid, then went to follow Callisto down a side passage she had entered.

He found her leaning against the wall of the sewer, seemingly unperturbed by the mysterious piles of _something_ clinging to the surface beside her. "It's been three weeks since we've seen him Callisto," Spyke said. "Aren't you even a bit worried?"

"I've told you before Spyke, Calliban doesn't need you looking after him," Callisto replied, her eye hard. "Before you joined us there'd be times when he would go off on his own for long periods of time and we wouldn't hear a thing from him."

"But for this long?" Spyke implored, trying to get her to see reason. "Callisto, I'm telling you. Something's not right about this."

"And I'm telling you that in a week when he shows up you'll realize how ridiculous you've been for worrying over him," she replied.

Her expression softened, and she reached up to put a hand on his shoulder, not at all phased by the spikes that sprouted there. "Spyke, I appreciate how much you care for us, I really do, but we're a more independent bunch than Xavier's kids. He'll be fine, trust me."

Taking her hand from his shoulder, she turned and flicked her wrist in a wave. Then she headed back up the passage.

"I hope you're right," Spyke muttered as he watched her disappear into the gloom of the sewers.

* * *

**A/N-**

So another chapter all done. This one took a little more effort for me to iron out all the details, especially the conversation between Rogue and Ray, but I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

As always, I'd love to hear from you, and I try my best to reply to any and all reviews I receive!


	3. Strangers On The Outside

**A/N-**

A longer wait for this chapter but I hope you'll forgive me. I had to do a lot of work ironing out the plot before I could decide how to finish this chapter. And that plot I mentioned? We'll be getting to it soon, I promise :D

* * *

Lance was brooding. Not that this was a strange occurrence in the Brotherhood household. Lance tended to brood a lot.

The power was cut? Lance brooded. Someone misplaced his guitar picks? Lance brooded. The milk in the fridge had gone bad? Lance brooded. You name it? Lance brooded.

Todd typically didn't mind Lance's brooding. He'd simply steer clear of the lunkhead until his mood brightened and that would be that. Today was different though.

Wanda had managed to work out a proper transfer to Bayville High, meaning that for the first time she was going to school with them. After snooping through her schedule, Todd knew they had not one but _two _ classes together. With Wanda being new at school, that meant there would be two hours where he was going to be the only one she knew.

The only road bump in this perfect opportunity for Todd to spend time with Wanda was Lance. Lance was their only ride to school, therefore if Todd wanted those two blissful hours with his babycakes, Lance had to get moving.

"C'mon Lance, I know you're awake," Todd called, rapping loudly on Lance's door. "We gonna be late for school!" He jumped up at these last words, putting more force into his voice as he hopped frog like in the hallway.

No response. Not an angry howl. Not the unsettling shaking of the walls. The ceiling wasn't splitting open and falling on top of his head.

Lance was definitely brooding.

"You got rocks for brains or somethin'?" Todd shouted, refusing to give up. He pounded on the door again, louder and longer than the first time. "I ain't going anywhere till you say somethin'!"

"Go away." Lance's voice came through the door as an angry snarl. Snarling was a response at least. Any kind of progress was still progress, Todd reasoned.

"Does that mean you're getting' ready?" Todd asked, knowing full well the answer.

"That means _go away_!"

"Now don't be like that Lance," Todd _tisked_ his tongue. "We can't get to school without ya."

"Don't feel like going to school anymore."

"Anymore?" Todd snorted, unimpressed. "You went one day."

"I went one day too many," Lance snapped back from his side of the door. "I told you guys this was a bad idea."

Some would say that Todd wasn't the brightest frog in the pond, but even he knew a losing battle when he saw one. In a situation like this there was only a few options. You either changed the staging of the battle or the opponents. Lance clearly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so that left him with only one choice.

"Well, you better get moving," Todd called futilely. He then turned away from the door and hopped back downstairs.

In the kitchen Todd found Freddie just as he expected, waist deep in sandwiches, brown paper bags and juice boxes. Hearing Todd's arrival, Freddie looked up with a wide grin on his face. "I almost have your lunches all ready."

It had been Freddie's idea for them to return to school. Freddie who mysteriously procured a high school diploma and was not attending himself. Instead, he had become the self-appointed 'Team Dad', taking the now mostly vacant parental position once held by Mystique and briefly Magneto.

Compared to his competition Freddie had been downright fatherly.

"Are the others moving yet?" Freddie asked, slapping a piece of salami onto a slice of bread thick with mayonnaise.

"Wanda's getting ready in the bathroom," Todd replied with a shrug. "Pietro's not moving yet, but we all know it takes him less than no time to get ready." A fact Pietro often liked to brag about, particularly because it allowed him sleep in longer than anyone else. "Lance is awake, but he says he's not going to school today," Todd dropped this lightly, waiting to see just how Freddie would take it.

"Does he now?" Freddie nodded thoughtfully. It was an entirely too adultish movement for Freddie in Todd's humble opinion. Then Freddie's face split into a wide, crooked grin, which looked much more appropriate. "I'll just have to take care of him then."

Todd pumped the air with his fist as Freddie walked around him to head into the hallway.

The stairs protested shrilly as Freddie headed to Lance's room, but they held against his considerable weight. Todd chose to stay in the kitchen, or as he thought of it at the moment, 'relative safety'.

"Lance!" Freddie's bellow reverberated in Todd's bones all the way downstairs. There was a loud, splintering crack, and Todd guessed that Lance's door no longer stood on its hinges.

There was the sound of muffled cursing, some running and crashing upstairs, and a faint rumbling of the entire house. A violent crash shook the house so much particles fell off the ceiling to land on Todd's face. Then all was silent.

Moments later the stairs creaked once again. Freddie came back into view, holding Lance by the back of his shirt collar, dragging him down the stairs much like a mother cat would carry her kitten.

Freddie dumped Lance unceremoniously at the bottom of the stairs. "Lance has reconsidered his apathy to education, and will gladly drive you all to school," Freddie said happily. "Now, unless either of you have any other problems you can't fix on your own, I have lunches to finish." Dusting his hands off at a job well done, Freddie returned to the kitchen.

Still squatting at the foot of the stairs, Lance looked up at Todd, "I don't think I like 'Team Dad' Fred all that much."

"Are you kiddin'? 'Team Dad' Fred is the best," Todd replied, and leaped victoriously up the stairs to grab his school bag.

* * *

One member of the Brotherhood in her English class was irritating. Two members of the Brotherhood in her English was an accident waiting to happen.

Rogue fidgeted nervously in her seat by the window when ten minutes into class the door to classroom opened and in walked Wanda Maximoff. A collective muttering rose up from the rest of the students, a result of Wanda's intimidating appearance.

Wanda's hair had grown out slightly since Rogue had last seen her, during the aftermath of their fight with Apocalypse. It now hung down to her ears, obscuring the silver cross earrings she still wore. Like her jewelry, her choice in clothing hadn't changed much. A blood red tank top, topped by a black over coat, along with a pair of ripped black jeans. Heavy combat boots completed the ensemble.

Mr. Green, the English teacher, merely raised a thinning brow at her arrival, "You must be Miss Maximoff."

Wanda nodded, but offered nothing else. No excuse for her tardiness. No sharp comment about the dry way Mr. Green greeted here.

"Are you familiar with the phrase be careful what you wish for?" Mr. Green asked, prompting a confused expression to come across Wanda's face.

With one eyebrow lowered, and her mouth curved up in confusion, Wanda replied. "Yeah."

"When I saw your name on my register for this class, I had wished that you wouldn't be like your brother," Mr. Green replied. "And he was never late for class. Anyhow, take your seat." He waved a vague hand toward the rows of desks.

In a swirl of black overcoat, Wanda turned to take her seat. Behind Rogue, Toad was waving vigorously in Wanda's direction, ushering her to the vacant chair beside him. Rolling thickly outlined eyes, Wanda ignored the proffered seat and chose one near the front of the room.

"Well, class," Mr. Green walked behind his desk and opened a drawer. From it he pulled out a stack of cards and started shuffling them. Lined up in front of him on the desk was a series of books. "What I was just getting to was your major assignment for the semester. Twenty percent of your mark this year will be based on a collaborative presentation on an assigned novel. To provide you ample time to plan your presentation, you will be assigned both your partner and your book today.

"In the sense of fairness, and to avoid the unfortunate event where everyone chooses not to partner with particular individuals, I'll be handing each of you a card," Mr. Green explained in a monotonous drone. As he spoke, he methodically went about the process of handing out the cards. "Whomever holds the matching card to yours will be your partner. Each of the books on my desk also have a card on top of them. If you're following where I'm going with this, it'll be clear to you that the book you are to be presenting on will be under the matching card you and your partner receive."

When Mr. Green held a card out to her, Rogue gingerly slipped it from his hand. Despite the fact that she knew everything was perfectly safe with her gloves secured on her hands, she made sure to only make contact with the thinly layered cardboard of the playing card.

The word _ironic_ popped into her mind at the sight of the card, but she wasn't sure if that was the correct literary device to apply to this situation. The Queen of Hearts smiled up at her, a mirror of the card which she still carried with her in her pocket.

"Hey, Rogue, trade with me!" Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing Toad's voice so close to her ear. The cretin was leaning as far over his desk as he could, head nearly level with Rogue's own, and his hands stretched out toward the card in Rogue's hand. "C'mon, please!"

Rogue turned to glare at him. "Would you back off?" She snarled, leaning to the side of her chair, trying to evade his flailing arms. The last thing she wanted was one of his hands to make contact with the bare skin of her neck or face. She did _not _want this guy's slimy thoughts in her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rogue discovered the source of Toad's sudden and desperate need for her queen. In the front row, Wanda was dangling the Queen of Diamonds in her hand, while looking at Rogue with an expression that was as equally desperate as Toad's, and maybe even a little pleading.

Wanda had been the only member of the Brotherhood to agree right away to help them against Apocalypse. Rogue supposed a favour was due. Rogue also preferred to not give into Toad's insistent and irritating attempts to wrest the card from her grasp.

Holding the Queen of Hearts a safe distance out of Toad's reach, Rogue used her other arm to shove Toad's desk backward as hard as she could. Toad, who had been pressed against the edge of the desk as he leaned toward Rogue, gasped in pain as he was forcibly moved backward with the desk.

"Mr. Tolensky," Mr. Green's voice sounded even more deadpanned than usual. "Please behave yourself in class."

Toad snorted at the teacher, and glared at Rogue but offered no further comment. At the front of the class Wanda lifted the corners of her mouth in what could almost be considered a smile of thanks. Rogue nodded back.

Mr. Green made his way back to the front of class, and looked out at the students with his hands on his hips. "If any of you missed what I just explained, or didn't understand, I suggest you transfer into a remedial English class at the nearest opportunity," he concluded with a smile that was little more than a tug on one side of the mouth.

Rogue cracked a small smile at his comment. She was beginning to think she might like this teacher, with his dry wit and obvious sense of fairness.

"Alright folks," Mr. Green clapped his hands together. "We'll start with the aces."

In pairs of two, students began filing up to the front of the room, and picking their books up from Mr. Green's desk.

Toad was called up along with his fellow five. His partner was a peppy, blonde girl who Rogue thought was a member of the cheerleading squad. Judging by the way she wrinkled her nose when she went up with Toad to receive their book, she was none too pleased with her partner. Toad in turn sneered right back at her.

When the queens were called, Rogue walked up with Wanda to select their book. Only two sets of books were left on the desk, theirs and those destined for the kings.

Underneath the Queen of Spades lay two books with relatively plain covers. A shadowed man, stood beside the title in big block letters. "_The Outsider"_.

Oh yes, there was definitely some irony in this.

* * *

Apparently being barred from trying out for competitive sports didn't have any bearing on the requirement of taking a physical education course. Kitty, currently a mess of frizzy hair and sweaty clothes, grumbled quietly to herself about the injustice of this fact as she filed into the girl's locker room.

The other girls chattered happily and eagerly. Among themselves. Kitty hovered on the outside of their little ring, rummaging in one of the lockers to find her change of clothes. There was a time when she would have loitered with the other girls, chatting and gossiping, but now she only felt like an outsider when she was near them.

She snagged her bundle of clothes and walked quickly to a change stall. The faster she got out of her smelly gym clothes, the faster that she could get out of the locker room. Then she could go to lunch, the only bright spot in her school day, when she was able to spend time with friends.

Exiting the change stall, Kitty returned to main area of the locker room, now smelling a whole lot fresher. Passing by the group of girls still talking excitedly, she made for the door.

"What about you Kitty?"

"Huh?" Kitty halted mid-step in surprise. She turned to see who had called out to her, not expecting it in the least.

The girl's name was Tanya, someone who Kitty had once practiced with as part of the track and field team. They had never been particularly close, but even after mutants had been revealed, Kitty could not recall Tanya ever being outright hostile toward her, a fact Kitty could appreciate in few of her human classmates.

The look on the Tanya's face at the moment was uncertain, but friendly enough. "Are you going to the track try outs after school today?" Tanya said after a moment's pause, obviously repeating a question already asked.

Kitty felt an uncomfortable tightening in her gut. She supposed she should still be fuming about the fact that she wasn't allowed to tryout, but the passing day had seemed to cool the burning unfairness of it all, and left her feeling more empty than anything else.

"Uh, no, I'm not," Kitty tried her best to sound bright and carefree, but even she could easily hear the strain in her voice. She turned back to the door, just wanting to get out of the room.

Another girl spoke, stopping Kitty in her tracks. "Not _allowed_ to, you mean," the other girl scoffed. Hot embarrassment burned Kitty's cheeks, as she turned back to face the other girl who had spoken.

The girl was leaning causally against the lockers, looking at Kitty with her brows raised, and her mouth set in a small smirk. To the other girls she said airily, "They're not letting _mutants_ cheat their way to victory anymore."

The red heat building behind her cheeks no longer had anything to do with embarrassment. "_Cheat_?" Kitty repeated the word, letting her hand fall off the door knob, and tightening it in anger.

"You heard me," the girl replied, straightening up . "That's why they took all of Jean Grey's trophies last year too. She used her freak powers to win everything, and everyone knows it's not fair for us normal people to have to compete with what you can do."

"Jean's never cheated in anything!" Kitty felt her teeth grinding together s she clenched her jaw. Jean had worked so hard for those awards. Kitty could still remember how upset Jean had been the day the awards had unfairly been taken from her. "And neither have I!"

"If you weren't using your powers to cheat your way to success why did you mutants hide yourself for so long?" The girl asked, her eye narrowed in accusation.

_So we could be treated like normal people. So we could be able to participate in things without people thinking we're cheating. So we could avoid people like _you_._

All of these thoughts and more ran through Kitty's head, but she didn't voice a single one. She whirled around to leave, unable to listen to anything else the girl might say.

She meant to. She really meant to open the door, leave the locker room, and slam the door shut with a satisfying _BANG_. She really had.

But what she really did was phase straight through the door, hand still outstretched to grasp the door handle.

She passed through to the other side of the door right in front of a group of guys heading to their own locker room. Small patches of facial hair ringed their mouths which opened in surprise at her sudden appearance.

Their expressions changed the instant they realized who, or more accurately what she was, and understood what had just happened. Accusatory looks that screamed "_Freak_", were more obvious on their faces than their weak attempts to grow facial hair.

Cheeks burning, Kitty stalked away from the boys, and the locker room full of hateful girls.

Kitty took a deep calming breath as she fled the gym. She slowed her pace when she came into the hallway. She reminded herself that lunch was next. That meant a nice hour spent with her friends, where she'd be able to relax and enjoy herself with people who accepted her.

Those happy thoughts were dashed as she approached the cafeteria.

Was that the sound of explosions she was hearing?

* * *

**A/N-**

And another chapter done.

Questions? Comments? Criticisms? You know where to leave 'em. I always love hearing from you guys!


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